Harper driving rural/urban wedge: Layton

NDP leader Jack Layton has suggested Stephen Harper is “driving a wedge” between Canadians and nowhere is that more true than in Welland — a southern Ontario riding facing serious job losses that served as the backdrop to the Conservative leader’s announcement Monday that he would scrap the long-gun registry.

The longtime Liberal Niagara-area community — currently held by New Democrat Malcolm Allen and targeted by Harper on Monday — is poised to be a key battleground. The NDP beat the Conservatives by just 300 votes to win the seat for the first time in 2008. The Liberals came a relatively close third, losing to the NDP by just 2,577 votes.

On Monday, Layton defended his party’s position on the gun registry and urged Welland residents not to be fooled by Harper’s second, callous, election-time visit.

“He goes into Welland for the second election in a row and doesn’t even acknowledge the fact that hundreds of workers are losing their jobs and that the middle class is being wiped out in Welland,” Layton said during a stop in Toronto. “His government is doing nothing about it and that is absolutely wrong and just shows you where his misplaced priorities lie.”

Shortly before the 2008 election, farm machinery producer John Deere announced it would close its Welland plant, eliminating some 800 jobs. And just a few weeks ago, the city learned of another plant closure; this time that Henniges Automotive would be laying off 300 workers.

As for the gun registry, Layton said Harper was trying to “drive a wedge” between rural and urban Canadians, whereas his party was keen on “building bridges” between the two groups.

He believes some aspects of the registry ought to be fixed but that “strong gun control” is something Canadians ultimately support.

Earlier Monday, Layton announced plans to work with the provinces and territories to gradually double the Canada and Quebec pension plans and to amend federal bankruptcy legislation to ensure pensioners and those on disability are the priority when companies go out of business.

Layton also re-committed to boosting the Guaranteed Income Supplement to $700 million — a plan he’s been pushing for some time and one that’s been adopted by Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in his platform.

“Stephen Harper promised to stand up for the Canadian family, but when it came to the retirement security crisis they face, he has turned his back on them,” Layton said. “In five years, the only plan that Mr. Harper has taken is to propose an unfunded additional private pension plan.”